First time unemployment claims dipped under one million for the first time in 21 weeks, with 963,000 applying for benefits, with another 489,000 applying under the pandemic assistance program for business owners and independent contractors, the USA Today reported.
The level of claims during the coronavirus pandemic is still far above the previous all-time high, in 1982 when 695,000 applied for first time unemployment benefits. The worst week during the Great Recession was 665,000 in March 2009.
This is the first time since mid-March when unemployment claims was below one million. Since then, 56 million Americans have filed for unemployment claims, and currently approximately 30 million Americans are on some type of unemployment benefits.
While fewer first time claims is a positive sign, it may signal that the economy had hit bottom in non-essential jobs being eliminated. Job creation plummeted from 4.8 million in June to 1.8 million in July, meaning that the economic comeback President Trump has touted is already slowing.